Indicator for locks



March 4, 1930. s. F. ROLPH 1,749,649

INDICATOR FOR LOCKS Filed March 7, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ila m, "MIMI I I SAMUEL BOLPH, S 'IAMFORD CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE Patented Mar. 4, 1930 UNITED'VSTATES MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF'STAMFOKRII), CONNECTICUT .YALE 8c TOWNE INDICATOR FOR LOCKS Application filed March 7,

Thisinvention relates to improvements in indicators for locks and more particularly to locked from theinside and which attachment shall not be incorporated intothe mech'- anism of thelock, but which maybe employed with any lock to indicate, when the inside thumb turn is operated, whether the door is locked fromthe inside.

invention-consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts'as hereinafter set forth and pointed out inthe claims. i

V In the accompanying drawings :c

- Figure 1 is a view, partly in section, 1llus-' trating an application of my inventlon, the indicator being shown in its normal retracted position; ,i f

* Figure; is ,a similar view, showing positions which the parts will assume when'the indicator hasbeen projected to denote that the bolt has been operated from the inside to lock the door;

Figures .3and4 are views showing different positions" of the devices which control the Sp-t eration of the indicator,and

Figure 5'is a sectional view, partly inclevationf showing the operating devices for the indicator.

A portion of a door (a hotel door, for ex ample) is shownat 1, a mortiselock being indicated at 2, and a portion of the casing of acylinder lock, is shown at 3 as projecting from the outerface ofthe' doorQ An e'scutcheon 4 is located on the inside of the door and provided at its edges with flanges5 whereby the body of the escutcheon is spaced somewhatfrom the inner face of the door to accommodate indicator operating mechanism as hereinafter, explained, For the accommodation of portions of said operatingmechanism, the inside, face of the door is recessed at 6.

The-inside thumb; turn 7 for the lock is suitabl'y'inounted in thees'cutcheon 4 and the spindle 8 may be angular in cross section and 1928. serial, No. 259,792.

is connected with the bolt work in any suitable and well-known manner, so that when the thumb-turn is operated in one direction the bolt 9 will be projected to locking position, and when said thumb-turn is operated in the opposite direction, the'bolt will be retracted, all as well known inthe art.

In the embodiment of the invent-ion shown in the drawings, the door is provided, above the lock, with a transverse bore 10' and with one end of this bore, a recess 11 in the outer side of the door communicates, the other end With this and otherlobjects in view, the.

of said bore communicating with the recess 6 in the inner side of the door. The stem 12 .a head or plunger 14, which is mounted in the cylindrical portion 15 of a cap 16 which closes the recess 11 and which may, if desired, be made as an extension of the escutcheon or casing member3 of the cylinder look. A flanged disk 17 is located on the stem rearwardly ofthe indicator head or plungerf said disk being prevented from movement in one vdirection by a shoulder 18 and in the other direction by a pin 19. The disk 1 7provides a seatfor one end of a coiled'spring 20, the other end of which has a bearing within the cap 16 and said spring serves normally to retain the indicator head or plunger in its retracted position, indicating that the door is not locked from the inside. i

A slide 21 is mounted against the inner face of the escutcheon and is guided between lugs 22 and flanges 23 on said escutcheon, displacement of said slide being prevented by a cross bar or plate 24 spanning the upper, portions of the guide flanges 23. The lower portion of the slide is enlarged as at 25 and the lower end of this enlarged portion is curved to provide an arcuate loweredge 26 which is concentric withj the axis of the thumb-turn spindle 8. v

A cam 27 is mounted on the spindle 8 so as to turntherewith and, is retained inpositionv against thejnner face of theesoutdleorf place and under tension by means of a pin 2 passing through the spindle 8.

Normally, the fingers 30 formed by the wider portion 25 of the slide 21 rest upon the arms of cam 27 when said arms are disposed horizontally as shown in Figure 3, and the slide is held in and returned to such position by means of a spring 31, bearing respectively against a lug 32 on the slide and a lug 33 on the escutcheon 4. The slide is provided between its ends with a'lug or enlargement 34 having a beveled or cam face 35 which is cooperable with the inner end of the stem 12 to move the indicator plunger 14 forwardly when the slide 21 is moved upwardly.

hen the inside thumb-turn is operated in a direction to project the bolt, the cam 27 will also be turned and, engaging the lower end of the slide, will cause upward movement of the latter against the resistance of the spring 31, said riding on p the arcuate lower edge of the slide from the position shown in Figure 3 to the position shown in Figure l. When the slide is thus moved, the cam enlargement thereon will effect the projecting of the indica or head as previously explained,such projecting position of said indicator 'head'denoting that" the door has.

been locked from the inside. v

It is necessary to have means for limiting the movement of the spindle 8 and its cam 27; Such limiting means are not however part of this invention since practically all locks have means forlimiting the movement of the bolt throwing cam. Thus, the spindle 8 and consequently cam 27 will be limited in their movement by the limlting means inside the lock casing 2. Such means are fully shown in the Heyer Patent 1,598,523 August 81, 1926, my present invention being especially adapted to cooperate with the loci; shown in that patent. Other limiting means may, however, be employed. v

I am fullyaware of the fact thatv an indicator for a locl; is not broadly new. However, my invention illustrates an indicator and actuating means therefor which are entirely independent of the lock and which may be manufactured as a separate unit to be applied to practically any lock of standard malre using a thumb-turn. It is this feature wherein an ordinary mortise lock equipped with a thumb-turn may be changed to an indicating hotel lock that is of .great value and constitutes my invention.

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patentlis l An indicator attachment for a lock of the type equipped with an inside bolt-throwing spindle, comprising an indicator plunger to be mounted in the door independently of the lock, an inside escutcheon plate, means independent of the lock carried by said escutcheon plate for operating said indicator plunger, and a cam adapted to be mounted on the inside bolt-throwing spindle for actuating the plunger operating means when the bolt is thrown. I I

2. An indicator attachment for a lock of the type equipped with an inside bolt-throwing spindle, comprising an outside indicator independent of the lock, operating means also independent of the lock for said indicator, and means external to the loci: to be actuated by said he t-throwing spindle for actuating said last-mentioned operating means to move the indicator to a position denoting that the bolt has been projected by the inside spindle, the means actuated by said bolt throwing spindle including a member detachably mounted on said spindle.

3. An indicator attachment for a lock of the type equipped with an inside bolt-throw-- jecting the latter, and means to be operated by the inside boit-throwing spindle for mov-- ing said slide to effect the projecting of the '95' indicator; v

4. An indicator attachment for a lock of v the type equipped with an inside bolt-throwing spindle, comprising an outside indicator, said indicator having a stem to pass through a door, an inside escutcheon, a slide carried thereby, a cam on said slide for cooperation vwith the stem of the indicator, a cam to be 7 carried by the bolt throwing spindleand cooperable with said slide to effect projecting of the indicator, a spring retaining said indicator in and returning it to normal position, and a spring for retaining saidslide normally in and returning it to retracted po sition. j

5. An indicator attachment fora lock of the type equipped with an inside bolt-throwable with said indicator and mounting means and operable to hold said indicator in and return it to retracted osition an inside escutcheon, a slide carried by said escutcheon, a cam on said slide cooper-able with the stem of the indicator, said slide having a curved lower end, a cam to be carriedby the bolt-operating spindle and cooperable with the lower end of the si'ide to raise the latter, and a spring tending to press said slide downwardly. 1

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification. v p SAMUEL F; ROLPH. 

